Decentralised Wastewater Management Systems in Developing Countries: Key Barriers and Potential Resource Recovery Applications

Abstract

Centralised wastewater systems are considered as conventional means for wastewater treatment, however, the implementation of large-scale systems and expansion of sewerage networks in developing countries prove to be challenging due to political, social, financial, technical, and environmental factors. Several studies identified decentralised wastewater management (DWM) systems as a promising solution due to its benefits including resource recovery for energy and agricultural applications. The successful implementation of DWM systems in developing countries contributes to the main objective of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) No. 6 which is to provide basic sanitation access to all. A low carbon society can also be promoted through energy recovery from wastes and reducing energy requirement in the transport and handling of wastewater and sludge. The paper provides an overview of the barriers and potential resource recovery and reuse applications to implement decentralised wastewater management systems in developing countries. The initial review showed that there are existing technologies already used for resource recovery such as anaerobic systems for biogas production, nature-based systems for crop cultivation and water reuse, and mechanised systems like moving bed bioreactors for wastewater treatment and reuse. However, developing countries are faced with several barriers in the planning and implementation of sustainable wastewater management systems. The information from the literature review is used as a guide to determine interventions for key barriers and to draft a policy guidance manual on technology selection for decision-makers in the Philippi